The First 10 Minutes

In music, the band tunes up and warms up. The singers warm up the vocal chords. In exercise, the body needs a warm up too. For many with autoimmune or chronic illnesses, the warm up is the whole work out. For most, a slower paced warm up is what lubes up the whole body and allows for a faster, better overall performance — and a much better recovery time too.

Why? Does it matter? What matters to me is that I listen to my body. I’ve tried to blast out of the gate. I feel awful and it’s a total struggle. Fortunately, I haven’t gotten hurt.But that warm up is so essential. Maybe it’s an age thing, but I know when I allow the first 10 minutes to be a slow, steady pace without much pushing, I end up with a much better ride, walk, or paddle. And every time I fail to warm up, I pay.

Start at a slow, steady pace. Let yourself warm up. If all you can do is a warm up, that’s great. Do it.

Movement therapy — it’s all about learning to listen. If you are like me, you have noticed that the body is going through some changes. Joints are a bit stiffer. Muscles complain more now than they used to. Balance? I’m fine. My hubby? Not so much. And in all cases, when we truly tune in to our bodies, listen to what they ask of us, but ask a little of them… the system works better.

In the 80’s, people flocked to gyms, pushed hard, went on high carb diets and got fat. In the 90’s people backed off on carbs, got off on marathons and triathlons, and got injured as they pushed to their limits. In the 2000’s, technology took over. We found ourselves in a high-tech versus high-touch war: Technical advances and Virtual opportunities fought for attention while the body’s need for movement and the mind’s need for socialization were at risk. In 2015, we have this weird dichotomy — we sit at our computers all day – or we carry a tablet and smart phone with us where ever we go. We learned all about ergonomics in the early century, only to ignore it while we clamor for mobile devices.

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